you can not get away with it being called a gift any more the customs thieves wont wear it,,,this is why the seller will no longer put on the parcel that its a gift,
the VAT is calculated on total price i.e $500.00 scope VAT at 20% on that price conveted to £ $500.00 = £314.25 + 20% =£62.85 then a courier collects they charge you delivery + VAT ,,,,,delivery maybe £10.00 so £10.00 + another £2.00 so your 500 dollar scope has cost you another 85 quid on top.
its a ****ing rip and they know you have no way around it if you aint going to buy it here in good old rip of Britain.
so in most cases it is still cheaper to buy from abroad but you have to take a big chance on getting what you think you are paying for.
i bought a thumbhole stock from the US its a cracking plank of wood and total including all the rip of tax came in at £158 the same stock here was over £300.00 quid so the way i look at it if the yanks can make it for $99 why cant they do the same here,,,this country is a ****ing joke they take the **** to live here and they take the **** for any thing you want.
I have a sister who lives in Colorado Springs she was telling me on the phone yesterday that fuel has gone up 87 cents over there now and she is paying $4.12 a US gallon for fuel,,,,,.
paul